Okay, I admit that I am not a hardcore gamer. I played them a little as a kid, some as a teen, and as an adult, my game play has been zero to none. I bought an original XBox when it came out, used it for a while, and then abandoned it. I had a Playstation 2 just so I could play and beat Guitar Hero, and when I did, I sold the console. Then I bought a Nintendo Wii. I knew at the time that something like it was the future of video games. I had fun, enjoyed the interactiveness of the games (how can you not enjoy shooting the heads off of zombies?), hell, I even bowled a perfect game. Something about it bothered me though. I didn’t like the way I only used my hands. Other than the sports games, I found that I could just be sitting on the couch and doing the same moves over and over, with just the use of my arms and hands. The attraction wore off, and I sold the console within two months. Free puzzle games online were actually more entertaining.

It looked as if my partial gaming days were over. Then Microsoft comes along with the Kinect, and everything has changed.

Unlike the Wii or Playstation Move, the Kinect uses no controllers. When you play games, it’s a totally different experience. Just turn on the games and instantly you’re emmersed in that environment. It requires the use of your entire body, not just your arms and hands while holding something. It’s super-sensitive, so it detects even the slightest change in motion, and best of all? Your body is your body. When you see your hip on the screen, it’s your hip. Not some simulated program. Kinect doesn’t work with you, it works as you. No other game system has been able to do that.

Will this kill the Wii? Will it be bigger than the Playstation Move? The answer is yes and no.

As more and more people discover how much fun it is to use Kinect, they are going to realize just how much the Wii is limited. As they find that they don’t have to hold a controller, or buy add-ons to make their system work with their friends, they will gravitate toward the Kinect. Why? Because it works with current XBox 360 consoles. Unlike the Wii, you don’t have to buy a whole new console, and really Playstation, your Move may have the cheaper price point out of the box, but having to buy extra peripherils to get the real benefits of it? Come on, you can do better than that.

Kinect is the future of games. To put it in movie terms, it’s a cross between the technology in Minority Report, and brings you into the scene like Gamer, only without the 3D surroundings. Oh but that’s coming. Yes, it’s coming.

Note: I was not paid any sum of money by Microsoft to write this. Now can I have some?